HELSINKI – It was almost a shame there had to be a loser in what was arguably the best game of the tournament so far. But there was, as Russia beat the U.S. 5-3 after intense 60 minutes of hockey.

Jets Jacob Trouba was held off of the scoresheet today. He tallied two shots in 7:54 of ice-time.

Russia's Ilya Kovalchuk scored one and added an assist, as did his linemate Alexander Radulov. Paul Stastny scored two for the U.S.

Yevgeni Medvedev scored the game winner with six and a half minutes remaining in the third period.

Both teams had won their two first games. Team USA beat Austria and Latvia, Russia Latvia and Germany. The Tuesday night special was the first big test for both teams, and yes, it was something special.

The first five minutes of the game presented the mostly-Russian crowd with the tournament’s speediest and most colourful hockey. Neither team sat back and let the other take control of the game, as they traded scoring chances, with the edge going to Russia.

And then there were the goals.

Five minutes into the period, Artyom Anisimov played the puck to the blueline. Denis Denisov sent it straight to Anton Belov who took a slapshot. Drew LeBlanc - the 2013 Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey - tried to block the shot, but the puck hit his stick and was redirected into the net, giving Russia 1-0 lead at 5:23.

Five minutes later, Team USA’s first line got the puck into Russia’s zone. Paul Stastny drove hard to the net, but his shot missed the net. Craig Smith was the first one to the puck, and backhanded it back to the front of the net, and Stastny rammed it in to tie the game at 10:58.

A Russian penalty gave the Americans a great opportunity to get control of the game, and they did. Justin Faulk played the puck to Paul Stastny, who wired a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot, and beat Bryzgalov high on the glove side.

In the next shift, after a breather provided a commercial break, Russia tied the game, after an American turnover in the neutral zone. Alexander Radulov found Ilya Kovalchuk in full speed. Kovalchuk took a few steps over the blue line and scored his fifth goal of the tournament with a snap shot from the slot, 14:04 into the first period.

Russia got into penalty trouble early in the second period, but the Americans couldn’t convert on their two-man advantage. They did push Russia on their heels, and at 27:09 Matt Hunwick one-timed a slap shot from the blueline, and again it was redirected into the net off a defenseman’s stick. Aaron Palushaj was credited with the assist.

But Russia came back.

Kirill Petrov carried the puck into the offensive zone, dropped it to Sergei Mozyakin behind his back, and Mozyakin sent a saucer pass to the front of the net when Alexei Tereshenko finished the tic-tac-toe play and tied the game from Bishop’s doorstep at 11:19.

In the third period, neither team took any risks, especially as the clock wound down. Russia had the upper hand, and their first line with Kovalchuk. Radulov, and Andrei Loktionov, were always creating havoc in the U.S. zone, but Bishop and the U.S. defence stood their ground.

With 6:22 remaining, Yevgeni Medvedev gave Russia a lead in the game when he slammed in a loose puck through a big scrum in front of Bishop’s net.

Nate Thompson mistakenly sent a no-look backhand pass behind the net, straight to Tereshenko, who tried to force the puck in with a wraparound. Bishop stopped the first shot, but couldn’t get his glove on it, and finally the puck ended up in front of Medvedev.

With less than five minutes remaining in the game, the Radulov-Kovalchuk duo struck again. Kovalchuk took a loose puck in the corner, and saw Radulov alone at the far post. He sent a saucer pass to Radulov who one-time it topshelf, to make it 5-3.

Jets Captain Andrew Ladd, scored his second goal of the tournament, to help lift the Red & White to a dominant 7-1 victory over Norway today.

The win puts Canada in second place in the Stockholm group with seven points, one behind the surprising Swiss. The loss leaves Norway tied for third with six points on the strength of two wins and a loss.

"I'm trying to keep it simple," said Matt Duchene, who had a goal and an assist while linemates Jordan Eberle (two assists) and Taylor Hall (two goals) also keyed the offence. "I've played on the big ice a lot this season. Before this tournament, I played 27 games on the big sheet and after tonight at 30 so I've played on the big sheet about the same number of times as the regular sheet back home."

Canada now has a day off and plays Sweden on Thursday while the Norwegians play Tre Kronor tomorrow night.

"After the first period and having that lead it was more about playing the system and develop chemistry within your lines and just continue to work on things," noted captain Eric Staal. "We know this is a long tournament, and we have some tough games against some pretty good teams. We have to keep improving."

The first period was one dominated by Canada, which outshot its opponent by a 13-1 margin. Ladd scored the opening goal at 4:45 thanks to a great play by Stamkos, who got to a loose puck in the slot. As he was falling, he managed to slide the puck to Ladd, who redirected it into the open side.

Jeff Skinner made it 2-0 when he came out front and patiently slid the puck between Lars Volden’s pads. Four minutes later, another great passing play put Canada up 3-0. Eberle found Duchene in front, and he made no mistake.

Claude Giroux closed out the scoring with a late goal on the power play, thanks to passes from Stamkos and Justin Schultz to Giroux, who also had only to re-direct the puck in.

Although the teams exchanged goals in the second, Canada dominated again. Another great Eberle pass, this time to Hall, made it 5-0 at 2:28, and then midway through the period Ken Andre Olimb capitalized on a defensive lapse by the Canadians to knock in a nice pass from behind the net by Anders Bastiansen.

Bastiansen had a great chance to score again later in the period after a Stamkos giveaway in mid-ice, but he was stopped by Devan Dubnyk on the ensuing breakaway.

Stamkos snapped in a loose puck form the slot at 4:32 of the final period to make it a 6-1 game. Hall added his second of the night at 12:35 thanks to a sensational rush by Duchene, who waltzed through the defence before losing the puck.